At the age of nine when I first discovered Prince, I knew nothing about challenging normalized conventions and pushing the conditions of possibilities. I didn't even know what he looked like. Although I was technically part of the MTV generation, we didn't have cable, which meant no music videos for me. All I had to relate to were his clever lyrics set to a funky beat. I still remember the moment I became hooked. I was in a bakery with my mother and grandmother and "Delirious" was playing. The melody was so catchy that I said that I had to go to the bathroom just to keep us in the store till the song concluded. In that moment, my twenty-eight year love affair with the man started, although over the years it has ebbed and flowed.
So, what could a nine-year-old white daughter of garbageman from rural central Pennsylvania have common with a twenty-four-year-old black musician, who is a son of a musician, from Minneapolis, Minnesota? Weirdness and creativity. Still today when I still listen to "Delirious," I hear it as being a song about embracing individuality, having fun with it and loving who you are. This is a great message for a kid, and the notion that I find in his music that I love the most. Granted "Delirious," like the bulk of his early music, is really about sex as seen in the line: "Cuz if U don't I'm gonna explode/And girl I got a lot," But I was far too young to understand the sexual overtones. Quite frankly as a parent now, I can't believe that at the age of nine, I had a cassette that contained line "...I'm not sayin' this just 2 be nasty/I sincerely wanna fuck the taste out of your mouth." (Still my favorite Prince line of all time closely followed by "U didn't have the decency 2 change the sheets " followed by "I got a spooky feeling/U just want me 4 the sex" followed by Every Christmas night 4 7 years now/I drink banana daiquiris 'til I'm blind" and so on.)
Although Prince's music is primarily known for having two purposes: shagging and dancing, for me there is a third purpose -- writing. When I listen to him, I hear creativity, fearlessness, individuality, and diversity. These are components that should come alive in art and are plentiful in Prince's work. His music inspires me, pushes and excites in all different directions. Sure, those components are found in the works of many great novelists, poets, essayists, and playwrights, but after a long marathon session of reading E.B. White (believed by some to be the best essayist ever), I tend to curl up in a fetal position weeping. A pity-party tends to slow down one's writing as it is quite difficult to type from a fetal position with a bottle of Ambien in hand and tear-filled eyes. So, instead of having a pity-party, I bring on the dance party. My writing process is just as physical as it is cerebral, marked by substantial pacing and a little dancing. While my actual writing may be influenced by the authors who I am reading, Prince influences my spirit, energy and enthusiasm and causes the phrase, "Mom, stop dancing" to be one of the most commonly used locutions in our home.
Sadly, since people mostly know Prince for his dance hits like "Kiss," and "Get Off," his wonderful play pop confections like "Raspberry Beret" and "Starfish and Coffee" and his sex-laden songs like "Little Red Corvette" and "Darling Nikki," they miss most of Prince's complexity and versatility. Not too many people know about his eerie, Edgar Alan Poe like, Gothic inspired song "Others Here Among Us" (which remains officially unreleased but has been circulating for years), or the very dark, experimental, and hauntingly gorgeous song about sex and murder, "Wasted Kisses" (from the New Power Soul album, which was done with the New Power Generation when he had a symbol for his moniker), or the complex multi-layered rock opera "3 Chains o' Gold" (Love Symbol album) or his beautifully heart-breaking song about adultery, "I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic), or the dreamy, other worldly, seemingly drug-inspired tune "Boom" from his most recent album Lotusflow3r. These are treasures that motivate me although I don't mind breaking out "Kiss', "The Beautiful Ones' and "Raspberry Beret" every once in awhile.
But no song encapsulates my connection with Prince better than "Purple Music," which is a very strange unreleased song from a spontaneous jam session during the 1999 era (which actually took place in 1982). I would not recommend it for anyone, except hardcore fans. For me, it sums up what draws me to Prince -- a shared compulsion for the creation of art. This song is all about art being a drug and its conception inducing a natural high:
Don't need no reefer, don't need cocaine
Purple music does the same 2 my brain
And I'm high, so high
Don't need no cymbals, no saxophone
Just need 2 find me a style of my own
And I'm high, so high....
Ain't got no theory, ain't got no rules
I just let the purple music tell my body what 2 do
And I'm high, so high
